whitewater letter
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8/3/2019 Whitewater Letter
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www.iowawhitewater.org
PO Box 65453, West Des Moines, IA 50265
515.270.9083
Help Support Restoration of the Maquoketa River January 3, 2012
To: All Concerned Citizens and Organizations of Iowa
We invite you to join us in supporting the restoration of the Maquoketa River andopposing the use of state monies towards rebuilding a failed dam that would re-createan environmentally and economically costly river impoundment.
The previous impoundment, known as Lake Delhi, was created on the Maquoketa River with the construction of a hydroelectric dam during the 1920s. Power generation ceasedin 1973. The dam failed on July 24, 2010. The failure caused considerable damagedownstream with millions of cubic yards of sediment that was flushed from the lake bed,blanketing farm fields, woodlands, sidewalks, roads, homes, and businesses with siltand sand. The failure also resulted in dramatic upstream river habitat damage fromrapid, severe erosion moving upstream from the failed dam (180,000 cubic yards of
sediment released by head-cutting).
Because of the magnitude of the economic and environmental impacts and the number of Iowans affected by the dam’s failure, a “Recover and Rebuild Task Force” wascreated and charged with “leading long-term regional and community planning effortsand identifying best practices with respect to managing the Maquoketa River watershed,reducing the likelihood of future damage by flooding and maintaining or improving water quality.” This task force identified river restoration as one option and dam rebuilding asan alternate option. The river restoration option is predicted to have a slower economicrestoration for the area but with a predicted greater positive economic impact over time(river restoration economic projection: $8,322,263 in single day expenditures, $989,372in labor income, 65 jobs versus impoundment recreation economic projection:
$4,297,664 in single day expenditures, $510,918 in labor income, 33.5 jobs).
From the environmental standpoint, river restoration is a clear winner over re-creatingthe impoundment. Dams disrupt aquatic habitat, decrease habitat complexity, decreasespecies diversity, and have detrimental effects on water quality. Regarding the faileddam in particular, impoundment sedimentation accumulation and water quality issues(algal blooms and pathogens) were ongoing problems before the failure and wouldcontinue to be problems if an impoundment were re-created. A prime reason for thesediment and water quality problems stems from the extremely unfavorable watershedto impoundment ratio. An ideal watershed to impoundment ratio is 20 acres of watershedfor each 1 acre of impoundment surface. Most Iowa impoundments used asmultipurpose reservoirs have ratios of 40 to 1 or less. The Lake Delhi impoundment ratiois 500 acres of watershed for each 1 acre of impoundment surface (223,630 acrewatershed, 448 acre lake). This impoundment ratio means that dredging would be anongoing necessity (5 year cycle predicted with increased need following flood events,$2,200,000 dredging cost for 2006 which was mostly negated by the floods of 2008).While ongoing dredging can be used to address sediment problems, the high nutrientproblems with accompanying algal blooms and the pathogen problems would still
8/3/2019 Whitewater Letter
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/whitewater-letter 2/2
www.iowawhitewater.org
PO Box 65453, West Des Moines, IA 50265
515.270.9083
remain. River restoration would avoid the perpetual sedimentation problems of theimpoundment while also improving water quality.
In terms of state resident use for recreation, free flowing stretches of the Maquoketa
River have been some of the most frequently paddled river sections in Iowa. Freeflowing stretches of the Maquoketa River are also home to such river species assmallmouth bass and freshwater mussels (neither of which do well with the decreases inhabitat complexity and water quality caused by river impoundment). Restoring thepreviously impounded and impaired section of the Maquoketa River to a free flowingcondition offers the return of a valuable environmental and recreational resource to allIowans while avoiding the perpetual environmental and economic costs of re-creating adam with a completely unsuitable watershed to impoundment ratio.
We believe in the need to invest in a vision of an environmentally healthy Iowa with ahealthy, free flowing Maquoketa River being an important part of that vision (clean water,support of native aquatic species, in state recreational opportunities such as great
fishing, paddling, scenery, and wild-life viewing). We invite you to join us in supportingthe restoration of the Maquoketa River and opposing the use of state monies towardsrebuilding a failed dam and re-creating an environmentally and economically costlyimpoundment.
Let the Maquoketa River Flow Free!
Support signatures:
Iowa Whitewater Coalition, Lyle Danielson, PresidentFriends of Iowa TrailsFriends of Iowa RiversIowa Environmental Council
Scott Bandstra, Des MoinesWhitney S. Davis, GrinnellTony Dunsky, JohnstonGerry Rowland, Des MoinesJim Todd, Boone
PS. We thank you for your dedication to healthy rivers. We urgently need to know if youor your organization will actively support this effort. If you have any questions please feelcomfortable in calling Peter Komendowski personally at 319.269.8493. An email sent [email protected] will confirm your support and we’ll add you to the list.Thanks again.
References:Final Report and Associated Appendices – Lake Delhi Recover and Rebuild Task Force,Released December 1, 2010.